Nearly every single drama that we've
had features fictional characters. Even though they highlight real
historical accounts, they often add new people to flesh out the story
and illustrate important points. We're all familiar with that.
I do similar for myself. I've begun
fabricating characters in the framework of Bible stories as a way to
keep straight the lessons and whatnot. Sometimes though, as I go
through my reading, I learn more details and tidbits that add more to
these mental dramas and introduce further lessons. On very rare
occasions however, my reading will lead me to a discovery that
completely changes the moral of this invented drama.
On that note, allow me to introduce you
to Bob the Priest.
In my personal Bible reading I was
going through the arc of Leviticus-Numbers-Deuteronomy. There's a lot
of laws, regulations, architectural designs, divisions of tribes and
lands, etc. What I had an especially hard time with was the 12 tribes
of Israel, specifically the Levites (like when I realized they weren't counted among the 12). See, you have the 12 tribes that
have normal divisions of land, and then the Levites who are set apart
for work relating to the Tabernacle (and later the temple) and all
that. But the Levites are subdivided even further into three
families: the Kohathites, the Gershonites, and the Merarites. But
wait! In the family of Kohath is Aaron, who becomes the High Priest,
and his descendants make up the priesthood.
So to simplify this for myself, I made
two characters. Bob the Priest, and Doug the Levite. They are both of
the tribe of Levi, both descended from Kohath, but Bob is from
Aaron's line, so he is a priest and fulfills the role of a priest,
while Doug is a Kohathite who does the work of a Levite.
Still a little confusing, yes, but it
helped me keep the families and arrangements straight. So then
anytime I read about the Levites transporting the Tabernacle, I see
Doug helping out. When I read about a bull being sacrificed, that's
Bob. This developed into a very useful memory aid. I even began
adding short scenes of Bob and Doug's work overlapping (for example,
the priests would cover the Ark of the Covenant, and would then turn
it over to the Kohathites to carry it. Insert scene of Bob seeing his
third cousin Doug and going “Hey Doug! How's the wife!” “Good,
Bob. Thanks for asking.” “That patchy spot of skin clear up?”
“Yep, no leprosy to be seen!” Etc.) It was pleasant and made for
a lively way to go about Bible reading.
But then I came to the festivals, and
the picture changed entirely, and in a way I was not at all prepared
for. To understand the changed lesson, I must briefly summarize these
festivals.
Many of them involved the Israelites
gathering together into a central location (Jerusalem, eventually)
and having a week of relaxation, spiritual instruction, association,
all that fun stuff. So with this mental picture, I tried imagining
Doug. What is Doug doing? Non-priestly spiritual duties. So maybe
Doug is reading aloud from the Law to a crowd. Maybe he's singing
praises with a group of other Levites. Whatever he's doing, it's fun.
It's spiritual. It's encouraging. And he gets to do all this while
enjoying the companionship of the Levites and other Israelite men,
maybe friends he hasn't seen in a long while. It's a period of time
for great enjoyment.
But. Then I thought about Bob. What
would he, as a priest, be doing? Killing bulls and rams at the
Tabernacle/temple, removing the skin and dung and intestines. In my
head he's sitting outside the temple, hearing the singing and
rejoicing off in the distance. Close enough to hear it, far enough
that he doesn't get to join in on the fun. While his friend Doug is
over there reading the Law aloud to a gathering of his closest
friends, here's Bob cleaning an animal carcass, preparing to carry
the dung outside the camp, only to return and begin the process
again. Repeat dozens of times.
The lesson began forming in my mind
from this point. See, from Bob's point of view, he could begin to
develop a negative viewpoint of what he's doing. He could dwell on
the monotony of it, how gross it is, how he's missing out on the
association with his friends. But what would happen if he did? He
might rush through his work so he could join them sooner, or maybe he
wouldn't do his work to the best of his ability. The problem of course is
that all his actions have significance. The sacrifices foreshadow
Jesus and everything he does, so the work of the priests must be done
exactly the way it was commanded or else it would be a gross
disrespect of Jesus' sacrifice.
We
know that. Bob doesn't. He probably doesn't get the intricacies and
the full significance of what's going on. So how could he maintain
the proper viewpoint of his work and not get negative about it?
Simply put, he just
has to remind himself that Jehovah knows best. He has to acknowledge
his lack of information and trust that if he does his best, Jehovah
will be pleased. In my mind, Bob knows this, but he has to keep
reminding himself. When he hears his friend Doug singing or reading
to a crowd, and he hears the Israelites celebrating and enjoying
themselves, he keeps reminding himself that he has his assignment and
that he needs to do his best, even if it means sacrificing the fun he
could be having.
This imaginary
scenario resonates with me, because I've been both Bob and Doug in
this setting. I've been the one organizing gatherings where we can
have fun with one another and help each other relieve the stresses or
worries life gives us. But then I've also been the one who gets
invited out to do something, but has to turn it down so I can stay
home and audit the congregation accounts. And let's be honest, the
first option is way more fun. But the second one is just as
important, even when it feels thankless and the friends you have just
think you're being antisocial or a grump or something. I've found you
just need to keep reminding yourself of the importance of what's
being done, and that helps to prevent it from dragging you down.
Instead, it becomes enjoyable and motivates you to give it your all,
and eventually you find yourself getting even more joy from
fulfilling your assignments than you would from going out to the
gathering or whatever it is that threatens to distract you.
Of course, I still
enjoy the opportunities to be Doug, whenever they come around. But
I've found that now I'm okay with being Bob too.
